Honest this is not a commercial!

I just wanted to post this to see what you guys have to say. We are working with a new wildcat, based on the 7.62x39 case (I am using Winchester brass in these tests). Could it be formed from 220 Russian? Yes, but I have not tried it.

Check out the early test results below. We have several other powders to test out but H322 shows promise. There will be a 20 Hawk in the very near future, ballistics will be virtually the same for the 20 perhaps with a small increase in velocity. Load from a Disk and AccuLoad both predict 4000 fps max, I am not 100% sure we will get there, and frankly so far the best accuracy has been in the 3400 fps range.

Bullet Powder Charge Velocity
Calhoon 36 gr. H380 25 3357
Calhoon 36 gr. H380 26 3452
Calhoon 36 gr. BLC2 24 3257
Calhoon 36 gr. BLC2 25 3368
Calhoon 36 gr. H322 24 3719
Calhoon 44 gr. H380 24 3082
Calhoon 44 gr. H380 25 3201

This cartridge was designed to work with two commonly available actions, the CZ 527, and the Mini Mauser. Both actions are offered in 7.62x39 (the parent case for the 19 Hawk. Accuracy is superb, many of the early test groups were sub ½ MOA, some in the .300†range.

Once we wring out several more powders we will be going back with accuracy prepped brass to see how tight it will really shoot. The 19 Hawk as you might guess has very low recoil but is a ton of fun to shoot.

The test gun is a CZ 527.

OK, but why not just a .204?? the bullets are coming out of the woodwork, for it!
Also just got the latest Sinclair cat and they list Lapua 220 Russian cases!!

Hey Fred!


I met Fred at DSC and have one of thi 19 hawks in my collection.

Super neato little whizbanger...

jeffe

Hey fred the 6.5 grendal case is a 7.62x39 blown out and necked down it would gain you some case volume and it is very available you might give it a look alexander arms is the company I think lapua makes their brass

quote:

OK, but why not just a .204??

The answer is simple, Because I wanted a 19. As I stated in the original post, a 20 will follow soon. Life is too short to ride in the ruts.

quote:

I met Fred at DSC and have one of thi 19 hawks in my collection.

I'll bet these are your 470 and 450 AR dummies laying on my desk too. Without going all the way off subject, how are these calibers coming along?

Crusher: I will leave the testing of "ALL" options to the shooting public. We do enough testing to prove out the project and provide some basic load data for clients. After that everyone has his own idea of what will work best.

Sounds interesting!

I will be taking the .411 hawk you built me for a ride into the beartooth mountains next weekend for the MT bear opener.

What a gun/cartridge!

Snapper

quote:

Originally posted by Zeglin:

quote:

OK, but why not just a .204??

The answer is simple, Because I wanted a 19. As I stated in the original post, a 20 will follow soon. Life is too short to ride in the ruts.

Good answer.

Fred, are you planning on trying the 220 Russian Lapua cases or, is accuracy doing just fine with 7.62x39 cases?
With the 20 cal it'll be flat shooting coyote snapper! We've got more than enough kicking around up here!

Early tests with the Winchester brass gave groups in the .300" range. This is with fire forming loads. We have not done any brass tuning so there is much better potential there.

We are currently testing more powders. I will ask the shooter to retain some targets so we can post them.

Its not the same as a 19 PPC?

quote:

Originally posted by Nortman:
Its not the same as a 19 PPC?

Below is a comparison of the two cartridges. I checked my library and found not reference to the 19 PPC anywhwere, I am sure someone has thought of the PPC, just could not find anything in writing. In all candor, they are pretty much the same thing, but they would not interchange. Just out of curiosity do you know someone with a 19 PPC, I would like to discuss reuslts.

The concept for the 19 Hawk came from the history of the 219 Donaldson Wasp. Donaldson spent years developing his cartridge, lots of testing, real world trial and error. His goal was to produce a cartrdge that would deliver excellent accuracy and velocity with a minimum of powder. The result, a useful caliber that has a long barrel life.

With that in mind I scaled the 19 Hawk to be a cartridge with the same case volume vs. bullet diameter as the Wasp(or pretty close). I also borrowed from Ackley, he stated in letters to Charles Landis, author of "Twenty-Two Caliber Varmint Rifles" that he had found the 28 degree shoulder to be the best choice for accuracy from all of his testing, no point in reinventing the wheel. Since I was not looking for maximum case capacity you will note that the shoulder of my case is smaller than the PPC case.


NOTE: the PPC here is my best guess for dimensions, I was not able to locate an "official" drawing.

I also check the price of brass. Now I know that many of you don't see the price of brass as a big issue, but for varmint shooters it can turn into a big issue. Winchester 7.62x39 brass is about $22 per 100, Norma 22 PPC starts about $65 per 100, and Lapua 220 Russian starts around $58 per 100. We are getting .300" groups with fire forming loads so how much better could it get with better brass?

Fred,

Would this cartridge work in a Martini action?

quote:

Originally posted by Snapper:
Fred,

Would this cartridge work in a Martini action?

Depending on the action, not all Martini Actions are created equally. I think the 20 Bee we discussed would be a good choice for a Martini.